Residents living right behind the Metro Orange Line Station in Canoga Park were once forced to make a wide swing around the block to take a rapid transit bus.

Now thanks to a new Canoga Metro Orange Line Station pedestrian station entrance, some 2,000 residents in newly built apartments behind the busway can walk directly onto the station platform.

“It was one of those things requested by the community,” said Dave Sotero, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “And we delivered.”

The new pedestrian station entrance will be the subject of a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the Canoga Metro Orange Line Station, 6610 Canoga Ave., where Metro officials will join Councilman Bob Blumenfield, the Warner Center Association and local residents.

Residents in the apartments between Canoga Avenue and Eton Avenue often had to head north to Vanowen Street and circle back down Canoga just to take a bus, Sotero said.

Now the $200,000 entrance means they can grab their briefcase or bike and head directly into the Metro station.

The new entrance, complete with ADA-compliant walkway, lighting, landscaping, TAP vending machine and validator, connects the apartment complexes to Orange Line service.